Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: In 2020, Thyroid cancer was responsible for 586,000 cases worldwide, ranking in 9th place in terms of incidence. It is also the most common type of cancer of the endocrine system in 2020. According to the literature, thyroid cancer have reported an increase in the incidence worldwide. However, it varies greatly from country to country. The aim of this work was to evaluate the incidence of thyroid cancer and its trend in northern Tunisia between 1990 and 2019.

Materials and Methods: The data source for this study was the population based cancer registry in Northern Tunisia 2010-2014. This registry shelter around the half of the Tunisian population. Trend analysis was performed using JoinPoint software.

Results: Between 2010 and 2014, 1226 cases of thyroid cancer were recorded in Northern Tunisia. The mean age at diagnostic was around 50 years old. The standardized incidence rate was of 1.9/100.000 for men and 6.9/100.000 for women. This cancer ranked 3rd in females and 14th in males. Papillary carcinomas and adenocarcinomas were the most common histological types. This cancer was generally diagnosed at a local stage (44.7% in men and 66.7% in women). The trend of the incidence was significantly upward between 1994 and 2014 for both genders, with a Mean Annual Percent Change of 2.6% in males and 3.1% in females (P<0.05).

Conclusion: The increasing trend in the incidence of thyroid cancer may reflect improved diagnostic techniques but also overdiagnosis which constitute a problem of overtreatment.